NY police intoxicate volunteers for training

The officers used a realistic environment to spot signs of drunken behavior in preparation for boating season

By Josh Einiger
ABC 7 News

GREAT RIVER, N.Y. — Suffolk County officers who patrol the water were taught how to spot drunken boaters, and it had them actually interacting with drunken volunteers. The volunteers were paid to get plastered.

Three Suffolk County workers and one spouse were plied by Suffolk County Police with drink after drink after drink. It's all to get them above the legal limit of .08 percent to display the physiological signs cops can use as probable cause for an arrest.

With the summer boating season fast approaching, Suffolk County leaders are placing extra emphasis on this kind of training, as they plan stepped up enforcement on the water. The emphasis comes in the wake of a spate of drunken boating incidents last summer, one of them fatal.